My first goal with the car is to clean it up and get it as close to factory as I can. This means removing a few of the previous owner's mods, and just giving it a good old fashioned deep scrubbing. One of the major selling points of the car for me, besides having no rust, was that the interior is pretty much 100% complete and in good shape. Something that I also found pretty neat about this car is it was optioned (or maybe I should say "de-optioned") with factory radio-delete panels. This means the following:
-Grommet in the fender for the antenna
-Radio delete panel in the dash
-Speaker delete panels in the hatch
-Blank door panels
-No speakers in dash, door panels, or hatch area
This, coupled with manual locks and windows, really focuses the drivers attention on the driving experience of the car. Unfortunately the car came with a boost and wideband gauge screwed into the radio surround. While I am glad he wanted to monitor the vitals I find his execution of the gauge install to be sub par. This brings me to order number 1. Remove those tacky gauges.
This is what we were dealing with
You can also see the in the top left corner a turbo timer that had power but didn't function like it should. I was able to peel off the double-sided tape holding that on and save the mint condition gauge surround. With the help of a trusty screwdriver I was able to get those right out of there. Time for my new best friends. On the left is a mild cleaner that doesn't leave an oily residue, and the right a protectant that finishes the surface off with a low gloss and some UV protection.
A few months back I also happened to be scouring the junkyard for a double din radio surround in good shape since my backup was toast. This car didn't have a good one either cause of the screw holes from the gauge holder. Luckily after nearly giving up hopes at the yard I decided to plug the part number into ebay. Voila! Some guy was selling a NOS one for $10 BIN plus shipping. I couldn't believe it!
Needless to say this bad boy was going the in GT. Dug the radio delete panel out the box of goodies that came with the car, and dusted off my old din pocket too. It is pictured here under my Evo radio that I planned to run originally, but I'm now selling.
Anywho, a little elbow grease later and this was the result.
Another angle. Floor mats and carpet dye are next on the list.
And lastly a side-by-side.
There is still quite a bit of work to do on the interior, but she is coming along. I'm hoping to finish the gauge install with something stealth to stick with my OEM+ theme for the car. I also have plans for some new seats, tint, and a good carpet cleaning as mentioned earlier. 'Til next time!